Shadow Slave

They returned to the army of the great clan Valor. The rows of Squires were standing under the dull sky, with dozens of Knights placed loosely throughout the formation. Most of them wore suits of masterfully crafted plate armor, some holding shields. Surprisingly, very few had already summoned their weapons, as if waiting for something.

Looking at the hundreds of Awakened who were calmly preparing for battle, Sunny couldn't help but feel a strange incongruity.

This was not the largest military force he had seen, by far. During the Antarctica campaign, Sunny had witnessed great masses of human warriors clash with boundless hordes of abominations... tens or thousands of soldiers and scores of hulking MWPs, supported by numerous turrets, artillery vehicles, and thunderous rail guns that rained fire on the enemy.

The armies of the two great clans were modest, in comparison. There were maybe two thousand Awakened gathered on the gloomy plain, with a scattering of Echoes supporting them. There was the dark river of Nightmare Creatures enthralled by Beastmaster, as well... but overall, it all seemed strangely insignificant in scope and scale.

However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that the small number of warriors in front of him were much more dire of a force than any he had seen before.

And then there were the Saints.

Whispering Blade, Sky Tide, Summer Knight... Beastmaster, Silent Stalker, Dire Fang.

Mordret's Reflections, Morgan's Echoes.

There were Sunny and Nephis, as well.

'This... is going to be a massacre.'

Sunny was not a member of Clan Valor, and as such, he was not familiar with the nuances of their training. Not really knowing where to place himself, he simply walked over to where Nephis and Cassie were standing. Jet followed, summoning an unfamiliar glaive.

Coincidentally, that placed them near Morgan, as well.

The Princess of War gave them a curious look.

"Master Sunless, Master Jet... what a nice surprise to see you here. Have you decided to keep us company today?"

She briefly glanced at Nephis and smiled.

Sunny lingered for a bit, then shrugged.

"Yes. We have our reasons."

Jet was more direct. Looking at Morgan with a carefree expression, she nodded.

"Indeed. Someone has to keep you bastards alive, so that you could keep everyone else alive."

Morgan stared at her for a few moments, then suddenly laughed.

"Well said!"

With that, she seemed to have lost interest in the two of them. A hurricane of white sparks suddenly rose around her, and one after another, Echoes started to manifest themselves on the barren soil of East Antarctica.

Sunny recognized some of them, but some he saw for the first time. All in all, there were twenty Transcendent creatures under Morgan's control, including the familiar tortoise with a stone fort on its carapace. This time, it seemed, the towering creature was not going to be used as a mobile command center - instead, Awakened armed with bows and possessing sorcerous Aspects climbed into the fort, turning the Echo into a walking siege tower.

Not too long ago, Sunny had been stunned by the sight of Morgan's Transcendent Echoes. However, now that he had seen Mordret's Reflections, they did not seem so domineering anymore.

More than that, the daughters of Ki Song had to possess a few powerful Echoes of their own, without a doubt.

They had an overwhelming advantage in this battle... both in terms of low-level combatants and dreadful powerhouses, Song was far ahead of Valor. The only disadvantage they had was that Beastmaster, despite her diabolical power, was no match for Whispering Blade in a direct confrontation.

Was that what Morgan was betting on?

How was she planning to win?

He hesitated for a few moments, then went ahead and asked:

"Not to sound presumptuous, Lady Morgan... but isn't our situation a bit too hopeless?"

She glanced at him, then smiled darkly. Her vermilion eyes seemed to shine in the gloomy twilight of the cloudy day.

"Hopeless? Ah... on the contrary, Master Sunless. The situation can be said to be in our favor."

Morgan looked in the direction where the forces of Song were making their final preparations and shook her head.

"Were you that impressed by the little trick that person pulled? Don't be. Those Reflections of his are not as dangerous as they might seem. You see, human Saints can be considered Transcendent Beasts, but they are so much more than that - by virtue of being human. Those mirror creatures, however, are just that... creatures. And as such, they are bound by the same limitations."

Her expression grew cold as she continued:

"In other words, while the Reflections can copy the appearance, Attributes, and even Aspect Abilities of a Saint, they can't copy that which makes humans unique among Beasts. Most importantly of all, they can only possess the same level of intelligence as a Beast creature would... have you noticed how they seemed to repeat everything that he did? That is because, while powerful, they are nearly mindless at that stage. Unless controlled directly by their creator, these Reflections can pose a serious threat... but not nearly as serious of a threat as actual Saints would."

Sunny looked at her with a frown. What Morgan said made sense... the Reflections could copy the powers of a Saint, but they could not become a Saint. The Mirror Beast he had faced on the Reckoning Island was vastly different, and much more dangerous, because it was a Devil. Its intelligence had not been inferior to that of a human.

Still... six reflected Saints, no matter how mindless, were incomparably more powerful than six Transcendent Beasts would have been. Because they, too, possessed Aspect powers of the humans they reflected.

Noticing his doubt, Morgan smiled.

"Don't be so concerned, Master Sunless. I was surprised by their appearance, as well. Without the Reflections... I'd say that our victory was all but assured. With them added to the board, well, I guess that each side has an equal chance to prevail. All that remains is to fight. Either we win, or we lose - the outcome of the battle will be decided by nothing except the personal strength, skill, and resolve of those fighting. Ah, what a brilliant day..."